Article: The hardest sell With money, or the lack of it, dominating the close- season back pages Michael Grant is nding it hard to see where the entertainment will come from as the SPL prepares for kick-off. Still, at least it'll probably go down to the wire. . .

tHE suits at ESPN and BSkyB thought long and hard and decided it was worth L65 million of their hard-earned cash. Others with mortgages to pay will wonder whether to hand over L20 at the turnstiles to watch it, or even as little as L9 to see it on television. Over the coming months the Scottish Premier League faces an almighty challenge to prove its appeal. It has to milk money out of a fanbase which might think of better ways to use its dwindling disposable income.

In the 12-season history of the SPL no previous build-up has felt as flat and dreary and underwhelming as this one. There isn't any way to polish this. No money, no real investment, no significant new names, nohopers in Europe. ...

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